Mining apparatus



Feb. a

J. H. CRAWFORD MINING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 10. 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet 1Feb. i J. H. CRAWFORD MINING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 10, 1925 s- Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb. 15 1927.

1.617.941 J. H. CRAWFORD MINING APPARATUS iled Jan. 10. 1925 3Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Feb. 15, 1927.

JOHN H. CRAWFORD, OF HARRISBURG, ILLINOIS.

MINING Arr Animus.

Application filed January This invention relates to a new and improvedmining apparatus and more particularly, to a machine adapted to both digand load material such as coal in the relatively restricted areasavailable in underground mining operations.

This invention relates specifically to a device which is capable ofremoving coal or other material, directly from the face or breast of thecoal in a coal mine, for example, by purely mechanical means, withoutthe intervention or either undercutting or of shooting the seam, andthen depositing the recovered coal directly into pit cars or similarconveyances.

Another device operates a suitably arranged scraper which is controlledby a system of wire rope haulage, by which means the shot down coal isgathered by a scraper and dragged a varyingdistance to an inclinedplane, at the upper side of which, the scraper dumps its accumulation ofcoal into the pit car.

A considerable number of other coal load ing devices combine theconveyor, scraper and actuating mechanism in one compact whole which isbrought directly u the shot and undercut face and the coal gat ered andconveyed into the pit cars, which are dispose'd directly back of theloading device.

Other types consist merely of conveyors which are forced under the shotdown coal,

dependence being placed uponthe conveyor fli hts to gather the coal.

ome machines contain all the functions of coal winning in'one operationor rather,

.sequence of operations, in that they do their ,own undercutting meansof power driven Epunche'rs or chains. After the undercutting isaccomplished the conveyor portion of the mechanism is run into the kerfproduoed and I "then eitherthe punchersor the other cutting chains knockdown the coal above the kerft it into the pit cars behind the and conveymachine. Vith these machines, noexplosive is required but the I arecomplicated and of low-ca acity and aven'otcome 'intovery genera use.Still other ty es of these' ina-' chines depend 'upon shovel I evicesforgathering the shot down coal similar .to the small 1 steam shovels in1 use work above ground level;

, It'is an ob'ect of the presentinvention to'l provide a new andimproved mining map chine adapted to both remove the material wh'i'chflsprovided upon its upper face with directly from its position in'theseam' and to was openings 33adaptedto permitthe cradle today onexcavation 1,617,941 PATENT OFFICE.

HEISSUED load it on to cars or other conveying means. It is a furtherobject to provide an apparatus of this character adapted for use in minecha-mbers having a low roof.

It 1s an additional object to provide a type of mlning machine adaptedto make a lateral cut in the material being mined.

Other and further objects will appear as the description proceeds. at

I have illustrated somewhat diagrammatr cally certain preferredembodiments of my lnvention 1n the accompanying drawings, in which-Figure 1 is a side elevation of the machine Figure 2 is a fragmentarycross section #taken on line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a plan view of the form of construction shown in Figure 1;

Figure 4: is a fragmentary section taken on line 44 of Figure 3;

Flgure 5 is a view similar to Figure 3 but shplwing a modified form ofconstruction, an s Figure 6 is av sectiontaken on line 6-6 of Flgure 5and shown on an enlarged scale.

The apparatus comprises the main platform 11 which is supported bybearin s 12 on the axles 13 which latter serve to rive the caterpillartraction elements 14. The platform 11 carries the electric motor 15which, through suitable caring, drives the gear 16 mounted on the s aft13.

10, 1925. Serial 110.1539.

The platform 11 also carries .the fixed jack 19 into either or both ofwhich fluid may be pumped by the hydraulic pump unit 20 carried by theplatform 11. These units 18 and 19 may be caused to firmly engagethe-roof 21 and the floor'22 to anchor the ap- 'paratus in place. f

The fixed column. 17 also carries the Irotating sleeve 23,.the lowerend-of whichis fixedly secured to the rotating drive member 24." The"sleeve23 and membe'r241are,

carried on the circular roller bearing 25', as

indicated in"Fig'ure 1. The platformfll carries. the motors 26and-27j,fwhich"drive ;.worms 28 a d29 e ec v y; ag s the worm gear 30'uponthe outer of the drive member 24. I As best shown in Figure2"'thejsleeve23 is provided With the L laterally extending 'trunnions 31,:These carry"the' cradle 32,

Penney.

to tilt on its trunnions without engaging the sleeve 23. The booms 34and 35 pass through the cradle 32 and are supported on the rollers 36carried by the cradle. Their upper edges are also guided by the rollers37. The upper sides of the booms carry the racks 38 and 39.

I The .adlc 32 supports the bracket 40, which carries the motor 41 andthe transverse shaft 42. This shaft 42 is driven by motor 41 by means ofsuitable gears and carries the gears 43 and and 44 meshing with theracks 38 and 39. The shaft 42 has fitted thereon the upper end of theyoke 45, the lower end of which is pivotedly connected to the screw 46.The lower end of the screw 46 is carried in the member 47 which is inturn supported at 48 on the drive member 24. The member 47 carries theworm gear 49 which is driven by a worm connection from motor 50.

The dipper, or spoon 51 is carried upon the forward end of the booms 34and 35. The front member 52 of the spoon carrles the teeth 53 upon itsforward edge. Certain of these teeth 53 are connected by bars 54 withthe air knocker 55 carried upon the rear face of the spoon 51. Thesebars 54 may be located in grooves cast or planed 1n the front facemember 52 as shown in Figure 4. The forward portion of the bottom 56 ofthe dipper is provided with the fixed teeth 57.

The pusher plate 58 is normally fitted against the rear wall 59 of thespoon 51. This plate 58 is connected by shaft 59 to a reciprocatingpiston carried in the cylinder 60 on the rear of the spoon.

The form of construction shown in Figures 5 and 6 diflfers from thatabove described, merely in the means for discharging the mined materialfrom the spoon 61. The boom 62 which is associated with the rear edge ofthe s con 61 is made in box shape, as shown in of the drag conveyor 63passes over the inside of the bottom late of the boom 62. This plate isextende forward at 64 to form the rear portion of the bottom of thespoon 61. The forward end of this conveyor passes over the roller 65 andthe rear end asses over the roller 66. This roller 66 is riven by themotor 67 carried by the rear end of the boom. The arcuate discharge hoper 68 is carried from the bod of the mac ine or from the platform 11 anserves to receive material passing from the conveyor through aconsiderable arc of movement. The material passes from the hopper 68through the chute 69.

In the operation of the form of machine shown in Figures 1 to 4 themachine moves into the room, or entry of the mine under its own power,the'motor 15 driving the caterpillar tractor members. The machine igure6. The upper run is stopped adjacent the breast of coal to be mined andby means of hydraulic power suppliedby unit 20, the jacks 18 and 19 arebrought firmly to bear against the roof and floor respectively, thusanchoring the machine. The booms 34 and 35 are run out by means of motor41- until the teeth are in contact with the left side of the face to becut. The booms will be tilted upwardly by power supplied from the motor50. This rotates the member 47 drawing down the screw 46 and by means ofthe yoke 45 pulling down upon the bracket 40 connected to the rear endof the cradle 32. The cradle 32 is thus tilted about the trunnions '31.

The spoon is now swung clockwise against the coal by applying powerthrough motors 26 and 27 to the drive member 24. This member 24 rotatesthe cradle through trunnions 31 and the engagement of the cradle withthe booms positively swings them together with the spoon. During thismovement, fluid power, as for example compressed air, may be supplied tothe knocker cylinder 55, which, by means of bars 54, serves to rapidlyreciprocate certain of the teeth 53. This facilitates the cutting actionof ,-the spoo'n.

Wheh the spoon is loaded, the swinging action is stopped, the spoon isretracted from the face by bringing the booms back through the cradle bypower supplied by motor 41. The booms are then rotated to bring theforward edge of the spoon over the car or other means for receiving thecoal and the coal is pushed from-the spoon by admitting fluid underpressure to the rear end of the cylinder 60. This causes the member 58to clear the spoon. The member 58 is retracted and the spoon swung backinto position and the cut continued.

The operation of the form of construction shown in Figures 5 and 6 issimilar to that just described with the exception of the discharge ofthe material from the spoon. In this form, the coal or other materialmined may be continuously discharged from the spoon by means of the dragconveyor 63. The hopper 68 may be constructed to cover any desired arcof movement and will discharge material at a fixed point relative to themachine through chute 69. If the hopper be of a less are than the diging arc of the apparatus, the conveyor may e operated intermittentlywhen the boom has been swung sufiiciently to bring its discharge endabove the hopper.

While I have shown certain preferred embodiments of my invention, it isto be understood that these are illustrative onl and I contemplate suchchanges and mo ifications as come within the spirit and scope of theaccompanying claims.

I claim:

1. In a mining machine, a movable platform, a shovel supported from saidlatform, teeth upon an edge of the shove, certain of said teeth beingfixed and others being movable, and means adapted .to reciprocate themovable teeth.

2. In a mining machine, a movable platform, a shovel supported from saidplatform, teeth upon an edge of the shovel, certain of said teeth beingfixed and others being movable, means extending from the movable teethto the rear of the shovel, said means being located within the contourof the shovel, and pistons and cylinders coacting with said means toreciprocate said teeth.

3. In a mining machine, a movable platform, a fixed column carried bysaid platform, trunnions rotatably carried by said column, a. cradlecarried on said trunnions, a shovel and shovel carrying booms extendingthrough said cradle. 4. In a minin machine, a movable platform, a fixedco umn carried by said platform, trunnions rotatably carried by saidcolumn, a cradle carried on said trunnions, a shovel and shovel carryingbooms extending through said cradle, and means carried by the cradle formoving said booms longitudinally relative to the cradle.

Signed at Harrisburg, Illinois, this fifth day of J an., 1925.

JOHN H. CRAWFORD.

